


Where Did Everybody Go?

by skittenninja



Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Abandonment, Gen, Injured Hiccup, Injury, Whump, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:21:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26925796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skittenninja/pseuds/skittenninja
Summary: Whumptober 2020 Day Eight: A battle gone wrong has left Hiccup stranded in unfamiliar woods, although he's starting to suspect he that he may not be entirely alone.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949905
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	Where Did Everybody Go?

The silence in the woods was deafening.

There didn’t seem to be life between the trees, except for Hiccup as he slowly tried to make his way through them. Smoke still hung in the air, a heavy reminder of the battle he’d just narrowly escaped, and there wasn’t an animal or person that dared set foot in the forest after the destruction that just took place.

This included the other Riders.

And it included Toothless.

Hiccup knew they hadn’t meant to leave him behind, that they were probably just searching in the wrong places. He couldn’t really blame them, considering the last time he saw their faces he was being dragged towards one of the hunter’s ships. A perfectly timed explosion had allowed him to escape, but it also meant that he lost track of everyone.

Staying on the beach had been a terrible option, considering none of his friends had been there by the time he made it out and the few ships that remained would absolutely want to re-capture him. The only choice Hiccup had really considered making was fleeing for the trees.

Which is exactly what he did.

He had no idea how long he’d been walking. Half an hour maybe? If he made it to the other side of the small island, he was sure _someone_ would find him. They would track down the ship, realize he wasn’t on it, and circle back to search for him.

That had to be the case, right?

Wind whistled through the plants around him, sending a chill down Hiccup’s spine as the movement of leaves cast strange shadows on the path he was forging. The sun had been going down rather rapidly, leaving small beams of golden light to pierce the forest canopy, a strangely beautiful but eerie reminder of how little time Hiccup had left before dark.

Unfortunately, moving faster wasn’t exactly an option. At some point during the battle, Hiccup had injured his ankle, and the electrifying pain that shot up his leg with every step he took was there to constantly remind him of that. He knew walking on it was making it worse, but he didn’t have another option. Better to put weight on an injured leg than head back in the direction of the people who would absolutely break it in about ten places for information.

A stick snapped from somewhere behind him, the unnatural quiet of the area amplifying the sound.

Hiccup froze, slowly turning around and preparing to ignite Inferno. Even though he’d managed to hold onto it thus far, he knew any fight in his current condition would leave him a dead man. Going down with a fight, however, was still better than going quietly.

Thankfully, Hiccup didn’t see anyone aside from the familiar trees and bushes that he’d already passed. He couldn’t see any animals either, but it wouldn’t have taken long for a bird or rodent to have quickly fled the scene.

With his guard still up, Hiccup began trekking forwards again, watching what little sunlight that slipped past the tree coverage slowly fade before his eyes.

It wasn’t long before Hiccup heard the sound again, and he turned around much faster this time, drawing Inferno just in case.

Again, there was nothing, but Hiccup couldn’t write this off as a bird anymore. Not convincingly, at least.

Ignoring the sharp increase in pain, Hiccup tried his best to pick up the pace, hating how loud his own movements were. There was no chance of him being able to slip away, not in these deathly silent woods.

Two piercing snaps emanated from behind him, closer than the other ones, and Hiccup felt fear begin to constrict his chest.

He had no way out of this.

He couldn’t outrun them, couldn’t hide, couldn’t rely on anyone for back up.

Hiccup was well and truly alone in the woods, the only other living thing within close proximity being whatever or whoever was following him.

He was running, or at least he would have been if his leg was working right. Instead, his strides were halting, normal until he’d inevitably have to switch to an awkward skipping movement to take some of the agony away from his ankle. It was slowing Hiccup down, and his pursuer was not giving him the luxury of waiting to recover.

Loud, loud footsteps echoed closer and closer behind him, leaves and dirt being crunched under quick-paced boots and a confident stalk.

Hiccup’s foot finally caught on something, and he hit the ground hard.

His ankle injury had just become about ten times worse and the rest of his body ached with a dull throb, the impact of the unforgiving forest floor still ricocheting throughout Hiccup’s bones.

There was no time to get up before Hiccup felt the unfortunately familiar feeling of the point of a sword pressing into his back.

“Well, what do we have here?”


End file.
